Palliative care Outcome Scale (POS)

STAS - Support Team Assessment Schedule

The Support Team Assessment Schedule (STAS) was developed by Prof Higginson when based at University College London. The psychometric testing was presented in her PhD thesis. It is a unique tool that assess the clinical outcomes and intermediate outcomes of palliative care. Before STAS was developed there was no standard reliable, valid and responsive measure to assess palliative care: most existing measures had floor effects and did not reflect palliative care goals. STAS can be used in studies to compare palliative care services or in clinical audit. It has 9 core or up to 20 optional items covering physical, psychosocial, spiritual, communication, planning, family concerns and service aspects.

Further details are available in Clinical Audit in Palliative Care (ed. Higginson I) published by Radcliffe Medical Press.